Saving Amber - Zoe Dawson Page 0,71

She was completely exhausted, wrenched by her feelings for Tristan, scared for both of them. She couldn’t handle much more, even if it was something to make her feel good. Her emotions were barely restrained beneath the surface as it was.

She couldn’t imagine getting through this without him.

He pulled her gently toward him, caught her and held her tight. “We need to get some sleep. We’ll need the energy for tomorrow.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything lest she break down completely. She didn’t want to feel hopeless, but she was still scared.

Tristan, as if sensing her turmoil, wrapped his arms around her and held her for a moment, hugging her and accepting her weight against him with a deep sigh and a kiss to her temple. “Let’s go to bed.”

Any other time those words would have filled her with anticipation. But it wasn’t just about getting physical with Tristan. There was so much more to the man than his rocking body. Now, all she could think about was getting some rest and praying to God she could sleep without nightmares.

They folded down to the bed, still holding on to each other. She remembered quite easily being with this man. The first two times had been about heat, sweat and ferocious need. Then, poignant and sad when he’d come to her before she had been ready to leave.

Her thoughts drifted there and clung to those moments like a lifeline, helping her to block out the reality of the moment and spend some time away from the negative emotions of fear and disgust. Away from the place where men actually thought it was sport to hunt human beings.

Beyond the bone-deep fatigue, beyond the sheer terror and almost debilitating fear…there was a wealth of desire. A need to discover him, bit by bit, until she knew everything about him—every curve of muscle, what turned him on, every gasp he made and what it meant, every breath he took, and every need explored.

Now she understood how life-threatening situations could bring on the need for life-reaffirming ones. Her sudden voracious hunger for him was limited by their terrible circumstances.

“I wish…”

“I know,” he said firmly. “Believe me. I know.”

He slipped his bound hands over her head, burying them into her hair. He cupped the back of her head with both hands and slowly drew her mouth to his, his eyes on hers as their lips met.

She took his kiss, letting her eyes drift shut as sensation after sensation poured through her. He pressed his body to hers, and it was such sweet seductive torture to want to go all the way with him and be unable. But the warmth of him and the comfort of his body offset the harsh reality of what they’d been through and would have to endure tomorrow.

And with their future uncertain, the moment they were sharing took on so much more meaning. She willed herself just to feel, to truly live in the moment and this moment only.

Her body aligned with his effortlessly, as if they had been sleeping together forever, falling into place as easily as she’d fallen for him. Her eyes were already drifting shut as she shifted enough to press a soft kiss over his heart, before tucking her arms against his chest. Then she draped her leg across his, wanting to feel him as close as possible.

Tristan woke early, before dawn. His internal clock was hard to ignore. He also didn’t want to be roused by their captors. He lay in the dark room for a moment almost able to pretend that this was just another day. Another day that would include Amber in his arms, in his bed, in his life.

He shied away from those thoughts. He had promised himself he wouldn’t go there. His plans were set. He needed to go back into combat. It was an internal goad as strong as his need for her. He didn’t want to analyze why.

He didn’t want to delve too deep, even though that is exactly what Doc Cross had told him he needed to do. He also had told him that it wouldn’t matter if it was eighteen months or ten years. Tristan would have to decide to make that journey and he would have to not only need to have the courage but determine when the time was right.

He resented that Dr. Cross insinuated that Tristan was hiding out in combat. That he was using it as a crutch. Damn the doc for bringing